Dharamshala — The Chinese authorities have demolished thousands of residences of Tibetan monks and nuns in Larung Gar, the world’s largest Tibetan Buddhist institute, since 2001. The latest wave of demolitions began in mid-July and is set to destroy 1,060 dwellings of monks and nuns. These demolitions took place following the implementation of China’s new law, so-called the “Law on Ethnic Unity and Progress,” which came into effect on July 1, 2026.
According to these sources, on July 13, 2026, Chinese authorities began to demolish at least 1,060 dwellings belonging to monks and nuns at the Larung Five Sciences Buddhist Academy, better known as Larung Gar (monastery), located in Sertar County in eastern Tibet; at least six dwellings were demolished till July 15, 2026. These actions occurred following the implementation of so-called China's new “Law on Ethnic Unity and Progress” on July 1, 2026, which targets the Tibetan language, identity, culture, and religion as part of a policy of Sinicization and imposes the assimilation of Tibetans into Chinese culture through public institutions.
"The demolitions in Larung Gar began around July 13, 2026, and are being carried out at night, which is seen as a tactic by the authorities to prevent public documentation, media coverage, and satellite monitoring. As of July 15, 2026, six dwellings had been demolished, and Chinese authorities continue to destroy the residences; they have targeted at least 1,060 dwellings belonging to monks and nuns for demolition as part of this latest phase of demolitions," the sources said.
In 2001, Chinese authorities launched their first large-scale demolition and forced eviction operations at the Larung Gar Buddhist Academy, targeting thousands of monastic dwellings. Since then, the Chinese government has intermittently resumed its destruction activities, notably launching a massive demolition operation in July 2016 that reportedly resulted in the expulsion of more than 4,800 monks and nuns and the demolition of 4,700 dwellings; the most recent wave targeted at least 1,060 dwellings.
The the Serta Larung Five Science Buddhist Academy was founded by Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, Tibetan lama and great scholar in 1980 and has grown to the point where, it hosts between 10,000 and 40,000 residents. It is home to monks, nuns, and students from Tibet and China, as well as from other countries such as South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia, while tens of thousands of people around the world study Buddhism through online courses taught by Sodargye Rinpoche, a prominent khenpo from Larung Gar. Despite the restrictions imposed by Chinese authorities on Tibetan Buddhism under Chinese occupation, Larung Gar has greatly contributed to the spread of this religion as well as to the preservation and international dissemination of Tibetan culture. Hundreds of eminent Buddhist scholars and practitioners have been educated at Larung Gar.
Since the Chinese government began systematically demolishing Larung Gar, the European Parliament, United Nations special rapporteurs, numerous countries, and human rights organisations, including Human Rights have officially condemned the Chinese government’s destruction of Larung Gar and called on it to put an end to these demolitions.
"China’s actions, in no doubts, constitute a gross violation of international human rights law, as well as its own Constitution, which obligates China to respect and protect the cultural, social, and religious rights of the Tibetan people. Instead, by forcing mass evictions of Tibetan monastic communities and replacing Tibetan self-governance with direct Chinese Communist Party administration, China is actively dismantling the very fabric of Tibetan life. The human toll of the Larung Gar crackdown that took place in 2016 and 2017 has been disastrous, resulting in profound psychological trauma and tragic suicides, such as the deaths of Tibetan nuns Tsering Dolma and Semgha amid the 2016 demolitions," the UN, EU, and the Human Rights Desk, Tibet Advocacy Section, DIIR, Central Tibetan Administration said.
China-Tibet: The one-thing you need to know:
Over the past 70 decades, there has been ongoing political repression, social discrimination, economic marginalization, environmental destruction, and cultural assimilation, particularly due to Chinese migration to Tibet which is fueling intense resentment among the people of occupied Tibet.
The communist-totalitarian state of China began its invasion of Tibet in 1949, reaching complete occupation of the country in 1959. Since that time, more than 1.2 million people, 20% of the nation's population of six million, have died as a direct result of China's invasion and occupation. In addition, over 99% of Tibet's six thousand religious monasteries, temples, and shrines, have been looted or decimated resulting in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of sacred Buddhist scriptures.
Until 1949, Tibet was an independent Buddhist nation in the Himalayas which had little contact with the rest of the world. It existed as a rich cultural storehouse of the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings of Buddhism. Religion was a unifying theme among the Tibetans -- as was their own language, literature, art, and world view developed by living at high altitudes, under harsh conditions, in a balance with their environment.
